Community Cohesion
Young People and Community Cohesion. Analysis from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) [DFE-RB033, Sept 2010]. 5pp www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RB033.pdf
Young People and Community Cohesion. Analysis from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) [DFE-RR033, Sept 2010]. 91pp www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RR033.pdf
Community cohesion – where next for schools. Briefing for teachers, NGOs and policy-makers (Runnymede Trust & DEA, February 2011)
Schools are the ideal place to debate ‘Britishness’. So why water down their duty to forge community cohesion?
Comment | Published in The TES on 11 March, 2011 | By: Keith Ajegbo
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6072588
The schools linking project is a useful consortium to develop aspects of community cohesion. To find out more, visit this web-site. It will explain how to become involved and how such an initiative can be successful.
www.schoolslinkingnetwork.org.uk
From September 2008 ALL schools have to comply with the community cohesion legislation
Community Cohesion became a new duty for schools to address in 2008. The site below is the Local Government web-page for community cohesion. It gives guidance for this legal obligation.
http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/page.asp?id=1200
The Community Cohesion team is a government unit under Ted Cantle which produces some very good material. Unfortunately, it is all copyrighted and so the materials cannot be shown on this web-site. However, a link to its web-site is legal. You will probably find it useful if you are thinking of producing some guidance for schools on this statutory duty. If you have done so or produce something, then please contact me through the web-site. I can put it on this page for sharing.
http://www.lga.gov.uk/Documents/Publication/communitycohesionactionguide.pdf
How can schools contribute towards community cohesion?
The OfSTED Inspectors’ Guidance outlines the key areas of community cohesion schools need to cover:
The guidance explains how every school will make an important but different contribution to community cohesion, depending on a range of factors including the nature of the school’s population and the location of the school.
Broadly, a school’s contribution to community cohesion can be grouped under the three following headings:
- Teaching, learning and curriculum
Helping pupils to learn to understand others, to value diversity whilst also promoting shared values, to promote awareness of human rights and to apply and defend them, and to develop the skills of participation and responsible action. - Equity and excellence
To ensure equal opportunities for all to succeed at the highest level possible, striving to remove barriers to access and participation in learning and wider activities and working to eliminate variations in outcomes for different groups. - Engagement and extended services
To provide reasonable means for children, young people, their friends and families to interact with people from different backgrounds and build positive relations: including links with different schools and communities and the provision of extended services with opportunities for pupils, families and the wider community to take part in activities and receive services which build positive interaction and achievement for all groups.
Further support for schools
Along with the guidance, an online resource pack has been developed to provide additional support to schools in meeting their duty to promote community cohesion. The resource pack provides further information for school leaders and governors on the duty and how they can meet it.
This can be accessed through www.teachernet.gov,uk
Below is a web link to the NAS/UWT position on social cohesion. The article gives an overview of the situation in Britain and is helpful in putting the issues into context
http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=73506
The BRITKID website developed by Chris Gaine is a very useful resource for developing awareness of different cultural and social groups/individuals. It focuses on different characters all from different ethnicities in a school and they discuss topical issues in a way that relates to young people’s lives. It can be used in English, PSHE and Citizenship lessons and if you are creative in other curriculum areas as well.
The web link is: http://www.britkid.org.uk